Building construction



Feb. 13, 1923. 1,444,798

' v E. A. LAUGHLIN BUILDING CONSTRUCTION Filed Feb. 17, 1921 5 sheetssheet l s JNVENTOR.

21M? 316% H s ATTORNEY.

LALALIGHLINI Feb; 13, 1923.- 1,444,798

E. A. LAUGHLIN BUILDING CONSTRUCTION Filed Feb. 17, 1921 3 sheets-sheet 2.

E..A.LAUC1=HL.IN, Imam- 0R;

BWWW ms v Feb. 13, 1923. 1 1,444,798 E. A. LAUGHLIN Y BUILDING CONSTRUCTION 1921 5 sheets-skeet 5 Filed Feb. 1

EMALTAUGHLIN, mv'am oR.

fiyf fi ma ATTORNEY.

Patented Feb, 13, limit.

'5 t 1 9: 9 ll, died raises.

gig? ALA EDWARD A. LAUGHLIN, 0F PORT ARTHUR, TEXAS,

BUILDING CONSTRUCTION.

Application filed February 17, i921. Serial No. 44 ,798.

pose of standardizing and positioning the formed structural members on a unit basis, said standardized members being adapted for use in buildings of varied sizes and dimensions.

One of the objects of my invention is'to provide a plan of multiple unit construction wherein 1 space the members a uniform unit' distance apart and by positioning the floor joints, studs, ceiling joists, rafters and other essential members directlyin line, one above the other, i make it possible to cut rafters, jack-rafters, gable studs, window and door framing and all dependent members to correct predetermined lengths, which assures absolute fit and wherein likeor similar parts are interchangeable and readily adjustt-id.

Another object is to provide a system of --roof construction whereby the parts are dove-tailed together in such manner that the fitting of the parts together is easily and quickly accomplished and the parts may be.

cut to standards at the mill in large quanti ties cheaply Another object is to so form and position the floor and ceiling plates, and. the dadoes cut therein that the studs used for the outer walls will be interchangeable with studs for the inner walls by the simple expedient of making the flooring and ceiling boards of the combined thickness of one of the plates. iinother object is to so form and position side sills, intermediate sills and supporting members that joists can be cut on the unit form basis, from standard lengths of lumher without waste. I

Numerous other objects and advantages will be obvious from the description which follows. i I

Referring to the drawings forming a part of thi specification and wherein like parts (1e nated by like numerals of reference, 1 is minedunit distance from each other. floor oists are, provided at their ,ends with.

a perspective view of the frame work of a building constructed in accordance with my invention and wherein-certain parts are broken away for greater clearness; Fig. 2 is another similar view showing a slightly different type of building employing my invent on; Fig. 3 is abroken details'howin'g arrangement of, plates, studs,'- joists and: celling; 1 1g. 41: s a perspective view of a rafter; Fig. 5' is .a broken detail showing the means of attachmentof rafter to ridgeboard; Fig. 6 is a detail. showing ar rangement of floor joists and sills; and'Fig.

7 is a floor plan showing how multiple unitlength pieces may be worked in when neces sary or desirable.

In employing my unit formed system of construction my aim is to so standardize the cutting and shaplngof the members .em-

ployed in'the construction of the building that the workon the lumber used may be done almost entirely by machinery at themill. ,The position, number-,size and shape of the members are all worked out'and, by

standardization, the'similarparts are inter-I changeable, and capableof being quickly ad justed in'position even by unskilled labor. The members thus cut and formedautomatically adapt themselves to variedtypesand designs of buildings with great flexibility In working out my plan, referenceis made to Figs. 1 and 6, in which-l haveshown an ordinary type of building. I In if such construction I term the sill 1 the side sill, and the sill 2 the end sill, there being, of course, twoxside and two end sills. .An.

inner sill 1 may be made of a separate piece, desired, and serve; to receive the end of the floor joists. The side sills 1 and 1' preferably rest on a foundation member. 1

6, which also supports the ends o'ffloor joists '4, generally laid parallel with the end sills 2 and uniformly spaced apart a predeters The,

tenons 5 which are adapted to fit within. mortises or d'adoes, in the inner sides of the inner sills 1','thus providing a dove-tailed connection. As will be obvious these mor tises or dadoes may be cut by machinery at v I the mill and by positioning them at uniform unit distances apart, the floor joists can be quickly dropped into proper position without measurement or cutting on'the grounds,

The fitting of the tenons in the mortis-es or i Y dadoes isfacilitated by the manner-in which,

such tenons are formed, the same being under-cut on one side only, and the undercut portion being deeper on the lower edge. of the joist than on the upper edge and the wide upper end of the dado and the tenon can thus be forced firmly into place.

:Few if any, nails will be required in securing parts together when this method is used.

On the upper edge of the sills l and 2 are plates 7, the upper faces of which are mortised at 9 to receive tenons on the studs 8. The mortises or dadoes are uniformly spaced, there being one above each dado in the inner face of the inside sills 1, thus positioning a stud immediately in-linewith each floor joist. The studs on the end plate are also spaced the same unit distance apart. As shown particularly in Figs. 1 and 7 the corner studs are spaced from the corner pro duced by the plates 7 by a distance equal to the width of one stud. This places the first end stud directly over the end of the sill 1 and the first side sill directly in line with the endof the firstfloor oist l. Begi ning with the corner studs thus positioned. the matter of spacin ithe other studs 01? equal unit dis tances apart iszan easy matter. Therefore in cutting the dadoes in the sill l for the floor joists this fixing or the starting point for spacing the members must be borne in mind. I

The upperend of each of the studs is tenonedto fit within mortises or dadocs 9 in the lower faces of upper plate l0. These dadoes are uniformly spaced so that they lie each in a vertical line directly above the dadoes 9in the lower plates. The plate 10 is preferably made of two plates as shown, the lower one only being dadoed.

Resting on the plates 10 is a supporting member 26 which is designed to support both. the ceillng joists 11 and the rafters 12. It" .may be one solld timber, but I prefer to form it as shown in Fig. 3.01%. plurality of pieces secured together, by nails or otherwise; The

-inner of these pieces, designated by the nuceiling joists ll. The dadoes with tenons fitting within dadoes in meral 27, see Fig. 3, projectsinwardly beyond the plate 10 and directly in vertical alignment with the in or sill 1. lit is dadoed on its inner face at unitdi? "ces apart by mortises 28 to receive the honed ends of 28 are posi tioned directly in vertical alignment with the studs 8 and thus carry out my plan of unit spa =ing and standardization.

Above the ceiling joists are' thefnttcrs 1). ln the construction shown in rafters all in vertical alignni f ceiling joists and are notched or r c 3 to rest on the supporting n nnber their upper ends the aiters are pr widsd of the ridge board 14. This construction is shown in detail in Fig. 5. In Fig. lhave shown how the rafters 12 can also be tenoned at 15 to fit within dadoes formed in. the outer face OfSiLltl supporting member 26. The tenon may be formed on either side of the notch 13, but I prefer to form it on the lower side as shown. When thus sawed the rafters can be dropped easily into position interlocking with the ridge board and supporting member and be thus securely and quickly fixed in place.

By my system of multiple unit spacing thus disclosed, it will be obvious that I can construct most economically buildings whose width or length is reckoned in units of l2, 16 or 2 inches, thereby utilizing standard lengths of lumber without waste. Where wide buildings are desired, it is convenient ing. or a seriesoi 8 foot stock may he used with two intermediate mile, or as will be obvious 'oists l. 8. and 12 feet 1on re- 7 a. spectively may be employed for the same auraose theuse of mv unit formed stock 7 permitting of great flexibility. This idea may, also be followed out on walls. ceiling. roofingor wherever desired. as will be apparent. At (see l 7) l have shown 'how, by this unit spacing, I can use short lengths of joists by sin'iply joining lengths.

cut to any multiple oi my unit space. and

mortised to cross pieces 31, which are in turn secured, by nails if desired. to other jo' as shown. This principle of construction may be used to utilize short lengthsor' joists. studs or even of rafters it being easy to cut said short lengths in multiples of my unit distance and thus adapt them for use wherever desired. ,1 x... linarily, in such. construction, the sections at their ends. thus avoi providing specially sawed a 4, or similar members.

ln forming openings in the side walls. such as are necessary for windows ordoors l contemplate "hat for coi..., nie....e. said openings will he o a width-equal to one or more of the unit tanccsused in spacing apart the 'io sts. st etc. although manitestly' this is not cs ial nor absolutely neca-zssary. Thus. if the unit used is 2 rinches. the windo or door opening will be two or in re unit, *idc. l also contemplate that the windows will be spaced at the same distance from floor and ceiling plates so that dadoes 18 may be cut in the studs adjacent the windows at equal distances from each end so that the said studs may be reversible. Thus it will not matter which end is used upwardly. The reversibility of the studs is also provided for by cutting the tenons on the ends thereof so that they will fit the dadoes in the plates 7 and 10 no matter which end is upward. Thus the undercut portion of the tenon is on one side of the stud at one end and on the opposite side at the other end. The dadoes 18 provide end-supporting connections to receive tenons on members 19 "forming the ends of the window or door frames. Where a door is to be formed, the lower member 19 is omitted as in Fig. 2. Spacing the window openings at equal distances from floor and ceiling allows the use 01 short or jack studs 20, above and below the said window, thus making it necessary to cut but one length of short stud.

In the use of a hip roof, such as shown in Fig. 2, it is necessary to use short or jack rafters at the corners. These corners are called starters, the rafters having a fixed position in relation to same. \Vhere the angle of slope or pitch of the roof is known, my system oi unit construction makes it possible to figure accurately in advance the length of these jack ra'l ters. In standardized construction, it will be at once obvious that these jack rafters may be accurately cut in quantities at the mill and an assured fit always be maintained. Also in the construction shown in Fig. 1, there will be necessary, above the plates 10 at the ends of the building, a series of gable studs 22 of various lengths to support the siding. lit the slope or pitch of the roof is standardized, and the unit of spacing known, the lengths of. the gable studs will be easily calculated and they can be out in quantities at the mill and an assured lit be relied upon and the correct number of pieces of each length could be provided. These gable studs can be cut square across on the upper ends thus allowing like lengths to be used on either side of the center. In Fig. 3, I have shown the ceiling joists relative to the floor joists. .lt will be apparent that they are of equal length because they are parallel and their ends are in vertical alignment. Further, it will be seen that the studs 8 may be used for interior partitions, for when a partition is formed 1 use flooring and ceiling l5 oards of a combined thickness equal to one oi the plates 7. Thus by first laying the loor and ceiling and then putting down top and bottom plates, like plates 7 and the lower members of plate 10, l have so spaced the said plates as'to receive the studs 8 wit out modification. Hence, where it is necessary or desirable to form an interior wall in the building, any of the exterior studs 8 can be used for that/purpose, thus making the exterior studs interchangeable. I It will be obvious that the unit formed system, as designed and worked out by me, makes the shaping working up oi? the lumber at the mill a problem of easy calculation and makes the standardization of the members practicable. Buildings may be made of any desirable size or form'as long as the dimensions are figured in terms of a predetermined unit distance. The type of roof, the gable ends oi the house, all of which ordinarily are a source of dir'hculty in the way of standardization of building construction, will become easy to determine and will no longer trouble the builder." The siding, numbered 25 in the drawings, can be sawed to any unit length. It will thus be possible to use short pieces of boards for siding or flooring which might otherwise be wasted.

The calculation of the number of sills, joists, plates, studs, and rafters, the length and shaping thereof, can be at once determined when the size and form of the building is settled, and when the pitch of the roof, and number of doors and windows is decided. Having the timber cut, grooved and tenoned at the mill results ina great economy of time and renders errorsin building construction practically impossible. Unskilled labor can largely be used a great economy of labor and material will result. Nails will not be needed to the extent now ordinarily used because of the dovetailed connections, and the labor necessary for driving the nails will also be less.

Having thus described my system of unit construction, the further objects and advantages of which will be obvious to one skilled in the art without further description, what,

I claim as new and desire to protect by Let-- ters Patent is: i

1. A unit formed building construction, comprising side and end sills, uniformly I spaced floor joists parallel with said end sills and having a mortise connection with said side sills-,wall studs, lower and upper plates to which said studs are mortised, ceiling joists centered over certain of said studs, a. ridge-board, and rafters centered over said studs and oists and having a dove-tailed.

connection with said ceiling joists and ridge board in the manner described.

2. A rooi construction for building comprising side plates, ceiling joists connecting said plates, said joists being uniformly spaced and having dovetailed tenons at their ends, fitting in dovetailed mortises in s; id

plates, a ridgeboard. and rafters centered over said oists and having a dovetailed connection with said ridgeboa-rd and said plates.

3. In a building construction, side and end sills, floor joists connected at their ends with said side sills, lower plates on'said sills, up per plates spaced above said, lower plates, studs uniformly spaced and having tenons the r on in inortises in said n pp e? and lower plates, said lnOltlSQS being out of uniform depths, ceiling joists supported by said upper plates, and ceiling and floor boards of a combined thickness of one oi. said plates, whereby said studs may he uset for interior Walls and' outer Walls interchangoably.

4. In a unit formed building eonstiaiction', side sills and end sills, plates on said sills and studs on said plates, said side sills having uniformly spaced dadoes ontheii in- 1161 faces, floor joists having tenons fitting in said dadoes, supporting members above said studs having dadoes on their inner laces in vertical alignment With the dadoes on the said side sills, and ceiling joists of the same length as said floor joists tenoned to lit in said dadoes in said supporting. members.

In testimony whereof, I hereunto aiiix my signature, this the 11th day of February,

EDWARD A. LAUGHLIN. 

